India’s unapproved GM cotton seeds highlight regulatory failures

A quarter or more of India’s cultivated area under cotton comprises genetically modified (GM) hybrids incorporating “unapproved” herbicide-tolerant (HT) and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) traits, according to a seed industry-commissioned study. This isn’t surprising. Cotton farmers today face problems of labour scarcity for manual weeding and pink bollworm insect attacks. They would be inclined to plant hybrids that enable them to spray chemical herbicides and provide protection against a broader spectrum of bollworms and sucking pests. The existing “approved” GM Bt hybrids do not contain genes conferring tolerance to weed killers such as glyphosate or control against pink bollworm. The study shows the presence of unapproved HT and next-generation Bt genes in over half of the seed/leaf samples collected from farmers’ fields across 16 districts of Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The study’s findings are a clear demonstration of farmer acceptance of HT technology. For cotton growers, this isn’t about ideology. Manual weeding costs, even when labour is available, come to Rs 12,000-15,000 per acre now, whereas it is only Rs 750-850 for 2-3 rounds of glyphosate application. The same goes for hybrids harbouring the Vip3A Bt gene. While derived from the same soil bacterium as the Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab genes present in the “approved” Bt hybrids, it has a different mode of action that is effective even against the pink bollworm. Neither the glyphosate tolerance nor the Vip3A Bt gene traits have, however, been officially authorised for insertion into cotton plants for commercial cultivation. Farmers are, then, growing their hybrids via sourcing of seeds from illegal channels. That includes traders and breeders who have undertaken introgression of the traits, bypassing the government’s biosafety and regulatory approval system.

The loser is not just the organised seed industry. Sales of “legal” Bt cotton hybrid seeds have fallen from 59.6 million to 46.3 million packets between 2022-23 and 2025-26. This, even as the unauthorised HT-Bt seed market has grown to an estimated 8.2-8.8 million packets. A bigger loser is the farmer, who is being denied the benefits of deployment of the advanced GM traits in the hybrids of genuine research-backed seed companies, as opposed to fly-by-night operators. The blame for this — widespread farmer demand-led, yet unregulated adoption of advanced GM technology — lies solely with the government. By blocking commercialisation and field trials of GM crops, based more on ideological positions than empirical regulatory science, it has turned India from a leading producer and exporter to a net importer of cotton.